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LIBRARY OF CONG RESS^ 

UNITED STATES OF AMERIOA. 



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PROCEEDINGS 

AT A 

SPECIAL MEETING 

OK 

The SliP^i^©Fs' /IssociQtion 

OF CHARLESTON DISTRICT. 

July ^sth, i89o, 



31^ 



^ 



"The Defense of Charleston Hartor." 



PRINTED FOR THE A^^SOCIATION BY THE WALKER, EVANS & COGSWELL 

COMPANY— 1890. 



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PROCEEDINGS 



) SPECIAL MEETING 

OF 

/ 

The Survivors' Association, 

OF CHARLESTON DISTRICT. 

" ■.-■ July 25th, i89o, 



k Defense of Cliarlesion Hartor," 



PRINTED FOR THE ASSOCIATION 
BY THE 

AVALKER, EVANS & COGSWELL COMPANY 
1890. 



A CONFEDERATE EPIC. 

Major John Johnson's History of " The Defense of 
Charleston Harbor " — Complimentary Preamble 
and Resolutions of the Survivors' Association — Capt. 
John C. Mitchel ; His Venerable Mother Remem- 
bered. 



PROCEEDINGS. 

In deference to the very general desire of many members, 
that the Association should be called together specially, in 
order that some formal action might be taken, to give ex- 
pression to the gratification of the members upon the publi- 
cation of the grand historic work b}'^ the Rev. John John- 
son, " The Defense of Charleston Harbor," a meeting was 
held in the armory of the Washington Light Infantry on 
Friday evening, 26th July, and was a large and influential 
gathering of Survivors. 

Col. Zimmerman Davis, President, occupied the chair, 
and Mr. J. W. Ward acted as Secretary. The meeting was 
opened by the following address by the President: 

Comrades : There has recently been issued from the press 
a book by one of our townsmen, the Rev. John Johnson, 
which will be read with absorbing interest in every part of 
the civilized globe It graphically but truthfully describes 
the siege and defense of Charleston harbor during the years 
1863-65. It is the history of the unsuccessful attempts of a 
powerful enemy, backed by unlimited numbers and every 
appliance then knovvn in the art of war, to capture 
Charleston and its defenses. 

But it is far more than this ; it is the history of the most 
gallant defense of a beleaguered city ever made in the 
world, in ancient or modern times. It describes the courage 
and fortitude of its defenders, the trials, the hardships and 
the privations they endured ; the ingenuit}^ and skill they 
displayed with the limited resources at their command ; 



their sleepless vigilance ; their exalted patriotism ; their un- 
conquerable determination that hostile foot should never 
tread the streets of this beautiful city so long as they held 
the keys to its gates. This magnificent defense stands with- 
out a parallel in the world's history. 

We honor these brave defenders ; we are proud of them ; 
we are proud of their names and of their fame. And we honor 
the Historian of these glorious deeds. Being himself one of 
the most efficient in this grand defense, he has unwittingly 
crowned himself with additional laurels by perpetuating the 
story. His book should be in every Southern — yea in 
every American home. It ought to be read 'by every man, 
woman and child in our Southland, and remotest posterity 
ought to be taught from its thrilling narrative the story of 
Sum.ter and Moultrie and Wagner. 

In obedience to a widely expressed desire I have called 
you together this evening that we may consult how best to 
thank the author of this book, and to express to him our 
appreciation and gratification for the thoroughness of his 
work, and its invaluable contribution to the history of our 
times . 

Capt. Wm. A. Courtenay said : 

Mr. President and Fellow-members : This is an unusual 
gathering of the Survivors' Association of Charleston. It 
has been suggested by an unusual occurrence, the publica- 
tion of the complete historic narrative of the " Defense of 
Charleston Harbor." 

Twenty-five years have passed since the close of the war ; 
since the last shotted gun was fired in this harbor. During 
all this long period there has been the yearning that the 
matchless record of these eventful days be prepared and pre- 
served, not only in justice to the actors in this fierce drama 
of war at the portals of our city, but as well that posterity 
should learn on authority, of the unflinching fortitude and 
the costly sacrifice which illumine these days of severest 
trial, and which have won a world-wide renown for these 
sandy shores. Difficulty was Opportunity indeed. 

"Worthy deeds," says Milton, " are not often destitute of 
worthy relators, as by a certain fate great acts and great elo- 
Cjuence have most commonly gone hand in hand, equalling 
and honoring each other in the same age." How happ}'' 
then the coincidence with us, that one who held no exalted 
rank, and was yet a distinguished actor in these stirring 



times, should become the historian of these warlike events ; 
should have gathered up quietly, the scattered materials of 
this wonderful defense, preserved them through all these 
long years, and finally placed this thrilling narrative in ele- 
gant and complete form before his native city and State, the 
South and the Union. 

It is a high privilege to be the historian of an eventful 
epoch ; it is easy to heighten the common, to magnify the 
rare and superior virtues, but our townsman has reached to 
higher achievement ; he has not only recorded tiie physical 
features of the exhausting contest with impartial pen. but 
he has brought the past back to us, and we hear again the 
pathetic and heroic story which touched our earlier life with 
wonder and awe. He has done more than this : he has 
summoned from that fast receding past, the spirit behind the 
physical forces, wielding the instruments and compelling 
the events, which lift up this giant struggle to its recognized 
high place in military history. " Oui vigor is now feeble, 
our grasp uncertain, our stiffest muscle limp, beside the un- 
yielding grapple of those tough wills." 

From the impartial pen of the Ch ief Engineer of Fort Sum- 
ter, always our honored townsman, now the Rev. John John- 
son, we liave the first complete history of so protracted a 
struggle, — two years of war histor}*. — 

" Never on earthly anvil 
Had such rare armor gleamed." 

The story so graphically told is by one from civil life 
who, as a junior officer of engineers, transformed this out- 
post while under fire and thus made it possible to " hold 
the fort ;" whose merit promoted him to be Major of 
Engineers, one of a very few, elevated to that high rank from 
civil life. 

The energizing spirit of the struggle was reflected in the 
community in whose presence this contest was waged ; an 
unprepared community, suddenly confronted with serious 
necessities, involving the highest scientific knowledge, the 
most complex mechanical skill. In this volume we are 
told how the first use of iron armor was tested in this 
harbor, and when this new military idea went forth, and 
the workshops of the world were taxed to develop and 
perfect it, and when, in its advanced and perfect form, it 
was subsequently arrayed against us, how native skill 
changed old-type smooth-bore ordnance into rifled guns, 



equal to the defeat and partial destruction of the largest 
ironclad fleet and the heaviest concentration of ordnance 
the world had then witnessed. 

All honor to the citizen, soldier, author, who has patiently, 
through all these years, worked to this end, and though 
repeatedly discouraged, has now finally achieved such great 
success. 

One of the simplest and, to me, most impressive memo- 
rials in Westminster Abbey is a marble bust erected in 
honor of George Grote, with its laconic inscription, " The 
Historian of Greece." 

We have no Parian marble, nor monumental hall, with 
which to celebrate our historian, but it is equally our duty 
and privilege to place on record our sincere appreciation 
of such distinguished services, and as well to preserve to 
posterity the assurance of our affectionate regard. Be it, 
therefore, 

Resolved, That the warmest thanks of the Survivors' 
Association of Charleston District are eminently due. and 
are hereby unanimously tendered, to the Rev. John Johnson 
for his untiring labors and conspicuous literary ability in 
writing this grand history of the Confederate struggle in 
this harbor. 

Resolved, That this Association has noticed with disap- 
pointment the absence in this volume, of a portrait of the 
Author and Engineer ; that it is due to the completeness of 
the volume that this omission be forthwith corrected. That 
the President request the Rev. John Johnson to give his 
consent for such portrait to be* prepared at once and in- 
serted in all copies of the work. 

The resolutions were seconded by Gen. Huguenin, he said : 

It has always been a source of deep pride and great satis- 
faction to me, to remember that I had the good fortune and 
great honor, to have been intimately connected with the 
Defense of Charleston Harbor from the beginning to the end. 
Consequently, I am familiar with many of the details of that 
defense as related in Maj. Johnson's book, not only as a par- 
ticipant, but as one who being at hand, took a great interest 
in the stirring scenes being enacted by others. The accu- 
racy and historical value of the work I do most unhesitat- 
ingly commend ; its literary value is without question. The 
justice which is meted out to " friend and foe " must be 



admired by all. It must be observed however, that in the 
nature of things and the natural modesty of the author, 
sufficient justice has not been done in the volume to the 
defense of Fort Sumter from an engineering standpoint. It 
may be true, that " conscience makes cowards of us all," yet 
I have always believed that man is naturally a courageous 
animal, when he believes he is in the right and doing his 
duty to himself or his country. Therefore while the officers 
and soldiers of Sumter have been justly and fully com- 
mended for that gallant defense in the line of duty, yet I 
have always maintained, and do now assert, that sufficient 
praise and credit has never been given, in proportion, to the 
engineers whose great skill, bravery and untiring labor ren- 
dered Sumter impregnable. Of these engineers, the first 
and foremost was Capt. John Johnson, and I have no hesi- 
tation in saying, that to him, more than any one else, the 
credit of its defense is due. Courage undirected by intelli- 
gence frequentl}^ wastes its energies in fruitless sacrifice, 
while the cool and intelligent soldier takes advantage of 
every favorable incident, and turns defeat into victory. All 
honor then to the skill, energy and courage of him, who him- 
self has most signally proved that " Difficultu is Opportunity." 

He was followed by Major Theodore G. Barker. Major 
Barker said : 

I esteem it an honor and privilege of no ordinary measure 
and character to be called on to second the resolutions 
which have just been read. 

It is within the past fortnight that I received my subscrip- 
tion copy of the record of the ' Defense of Charleston Har- 
Ijor." It was at a time when the depression caused by the hu- 
miliating spectacle of the recent campaign meetings weighed 
heavily upon the spirit, when we were told by the men who 
claimed to speak for the farmers of South Carolina, those 
whom we have been taught from childhood to believe are 
the bone and sinew of the State, those whom we had known 
in the glorious aays of 1860 to 1865, and of 1876, as the 
true and tried sons of South Carolina, proud of her heritage 
and glory, proud of her history and of their own share in 
that history, when we were told that these men had united 
in declaring that all the past of South Carolina was worth- 
less ; a barren record of political and social tyranny ; a 
story of wrong and oppression, and a matter of shame rather 
than of just pride for her children to look upon ; it was 



8 

under this depression, which each morning's newspaper 
increased and intensified, with the sense of mortification 
and ahiiost despair, that I opened the record ^hich Major 
Johnson had prepared of the defense of Charleston. 

It is the only book on the war which I have allowed my- 
self to read since the war. I had put away all such read- 
ing for the evening of life, when the harness of work shall 
be laid aside, and tiie narrative of disappointed hopes can 
be read in retrospect, with the philosophy of old age to 
temper the bitterness of regret. Having been absent from 
the State and from the city of Charleston from Mav of 1861 
to August of 1865, I had known of the heroic defense of 
Charleston only through the meagre and suppressed ac- 
counts which the newspapers were permitted to give, and 
such casual allusions as came from private letters or con- 
versation. 

I confess, the story of concentrated heroism which Major 
Johnson's book contains was a surprise and revelation to 
me. I found myself at once charmed and fascinated. Night 
after night I drank from those pages as from a cool, refresh- 
ing fountain, the draughts of purifying, elevating inspira- 
tion. I felt that the South Carolina which I had thought I 
owned as a thing of glor}^ and ennobling pride and which, 
in the morning's perusal of the newspaper, I felt had been 
in a manner stolen from me. was by that record of heroism 
restored in all its truth and brightness to my assured pos- 
session. 

I felt that, come what come may, through the ugly and 
degrading turns of adverse political influences, the place of 
South Carolina in history, as an object of holy reverence, of 
sincere respect, of unqualified devotion, was rendered secure 
beyond perad venture or fear of misrepresentation by that 
noble record of heroic endurance and exalted courage 
which the days and nights of trial in Fort Sumter and Bat- 
tery Wagner alone would forever illustrate. It was indeed 
a happy fate for those, who by their lives and heroism raised 
the flag of South Carolina high before the gaze of an ad- 
miring world, to have given to posterity so grand, so im- 
perishable a place in histoiy, and next to that happy fate, 
that glorious privilege of those who fought and died in that 
grand defense, we must esteem that a supreme good fortune 
to have been the one of the brave defenders to whose lot 
was cast the power and the honor of being the one whose 
pen has recorded the undying glory of the men who fought 
those forts, and who, by their deeds of valor, placed the 





name of South Carolina liigber in the niche of fame than 
even she had ever before been placed. 

All honor to the Major of Engineers of the Fort Sumter 
garrison, and all honor to the man the work of whose hands 
and head, inspired by lofty patriotic devotion to his State, 
aided so materially to the success of that defense, and 
whose faithful record will, for all the ages to come, preserve 
in imperishable words the story of Fort Sumter. 

Major VV. H. Brawley also seconded the resolutions 
eloquently : 

I second these resolutions, he said, most heartily. This 
book is a record of great events. The defenders of Fort 
Sumter are worthy to stand in history alongside those who 
held the pass at Thermopylae, 

South Carolina has not at any time in her history been 
lacking in brave men. From the time when the Indians 
were driven across her borders down through the years when 
her untrained yeomanry crossed swords with Tarlton's cav- 
alry to the day when the flag of the Palmetto regiment was 
the first to be planted upon the walls of Mexico, we had 
before us examples of valor worthy of the heroic ages, so that 
it was to be expected when our day of trial came that we 
too knew how to offer our lives for our country. The battle- 
fields of the late war between the States showed that we were 
not degenerate sons, but it was given to our brothers here at 
the seaward gates of this old city to carve upon the battered 
casemates of Fort Sumter a story of chivalry that will sur- 
vive through all the ages. It is that story that is recorded 
in this volume. It sliould be read by our sons and sent 
down as a precious heritage to those who come after us. 

It is wise and well that we should revive the memory of 
those days, when all the sons of South Carolina stood 
shoulder to shoulder, at this hour when we are riven by 
factional and sectional dissension. It is well that we should 
pause in the mad struggle for place and in the eager pursuit 
of material good and remember that the names most loved 
and the memories most revered are of those who have shown 
that they truly loved the State and were willing to die for 
her ; that fortitude and fidelity to principle, devotion to 
country and to great causes contribute most to her perma- 
nent fame and glory. 

This is peculiarly a time when such memories should be 
revived. A generation has passed away since the guns at 



10 

Sumter were silenced, and men "who knew not Joseph" 
have come upon the scene. 

The preservation of" the memories of great deeds is an 
element and means of attaining greatness. We could not 
if we would escape our past and if we have the seeds of 
worthiness in us we would not. Our State has done wisely 
therefore in subscribing for a hundred copies of this vol- 
ume, and in directing that they be distributed among our 
schools and colleges, for while there are a few among us 
who are ready to plead the Statute of Limitations against 
all claims growing out of the services and sacrifices therein 
recorded, so long as we preserve our self respect as a people, 
the eye will moisten, and the tongue will tremble, as those 
memories are recalled. 

While the story of the Defense of Charleston is the most 
unique and brilliant page in our history, let us hope that 
its wide circulation will be the incentive and forerunner of 
other histories of deeds not less glorious though less known. 

The ever thinning ranks of our Survivors warn us that 
it is time to put into permanent record those memories we 
would not willingly let die. 

Gen. George D. Johnston, late Superintendent of the 
South Carolina Military Academy, said he responded in 
part as a South Carolinian, and in part as the representa- 
tive of another Confederate State. He was glad that this 
last opportunity, before leaving South Carolina, was afforded 
him to speak in behalf of this production of Confederate 
history, and to say a word in reference to the Confederate 
record of this glorious little State. During the war he had 
not the privilege to serve here. He was first in the Army 
of Northern Virginia, and later in the Army of the 
Tennessee, but he knew what the feeling of Charleston's 
defenders were. The eyes of all the Southern armies were 
constantly turned to Charleston to know how well the guns 
were being served. We knew that if the defenses were once 
broken and the coast exposed the Confederacy would be 
split in twain. But they felt that Charleston was in safe 
hands; and while they took care of their own front. South 
Carolina protected the rear and the flanks. He had read 
the book with great profit, interest and entertainment, and 
it was an epic in Confederate history, showing examples of 
heroism which had their counterpart only at Thermopylte. 
It was the calmest and most dispassionate work on the war 
he had ever seen, and it was a book that would live, and 



11 

should be placed on the shelves of every library in the 
South. 

He henrtily seconded tlie Resolutions. 

Col. S. B Pickens said : 

Mr. President and Comrades : 

I regret that circumstances have prevented me from being- 
prepared to second these Resolutions in more fitting terms. 
I endorse most heartily all that has been said in commen- 
dation of this grand work on the Defense of Charleston 
Harbor. This book of Major Johnson's supplies what has 
long been wanted in order to form a just conception of the 
heroic defense of Fort Sumter and other Forts and Batteries 
around Charleston. It was ni}^ fortune to be a Lieuten- 
ant in Castle Pinckney during the bombardment of Fort 
Sumter in 1861, which resulted in the surrender of that 
Fort by Major Anderson, without the loss of a single life on 
either side. Those of us who shortly afterwards went to Vir- 
ginia and witnessed the tremendous clash of arms in open 
field, with fearful slaughter, were unable to appreciate the 
dangers and severe trials of our comrades in the Forts, when 
the tremendous power of iron clad fleets and land batter- 
ies were concentrated against them. While on wounded 
furlough, I came to Charleston, and by permission of Gen. 
Beauregard went one night to Fort Sumter and had the op- 
l)ortunity of seeing the effects of the terrific bombardment, 
and could well form an idea of the heroism and great forti- 
tude of officers and men who were under this terrific fire 
night and day, performing the most trying and continu- 
ous duties, of which, those of us in the field, had not a 
just conception. 

I feel, therefore, that not only those who participated in 
this defense, but every Southern soldier owes to Major 
Johnson a debt of gratitude for giving to us this book, and 
that it should be read by every Survivor, and handed down 
as a precious legacy to our children. 



In JWtmovxmn, 



Capt. Courtenay, addressing the Chair, said : 

Mr. President, there is a grave in our beautiful City of 
the Dead, which Carolina's daughters .yearly deck with 
flowers on Memorial Day, and on which stands an enduring- 
gray granite monument erected many years ago, by friends 
who loved theexile's gallant son, and who inscribed upon it 
this record : 

JOHN C. MITCHEL, 

Captain 1st regiment S. C. Artillery, C. S. A., 
Commanding Fort Sumter. 
Killed upon the parapet during the bombardment. 
.July 20, 1864. Aged 26. 

" 1 willingly give my life for South Carolina ; 
Oh that I could have died for Ireland." 

[His last, words. | 

Erected b\' his Comrades, 1878. 

There lives in a distant city a venerable matron, with 
brow frosted by time, whose gracious smile is a benediction, 
and whose thoughts instinctively wander back to this 
Southland. She gave three sons to the war; one made the 
last sacrifice at Gettysburg; another on the ramparts of 
Sumter, and the third, her only surviving son, bears on his 
person honorable scars won in that contest. On such an oc- 
casion as this, every survivor is moved in heart by such men- 
tion, and it has occurred to me that it would be a satisfac- 
tion to us all, if we could, in an unobtrusive way, and with 
filial reverence, renew to the mother of our dead soldier 
friend the assurance of our sympathy after the lapse of 
twenty-six years. I am sure that such united action would 
be a solace to this dear lady in her saddened home, and 
with this purpose I suggest that a copy of the " Defense of 
Charleston," handsomely bound and suitably inscribed be 
presented to Mrs. Jane ^'^er^er Mitch el. 

And I further suggest that a committee of five, to consist 
of our President as chairman, the Rev John Johnson, Capt. 
Chas. Inglesby, of Capt. Mitchel's company, Gen, McCrady 



1 " 

lo 

and Capt. James Armstrong, be requested to carry out these 
wishes of the Association. 

On motion of Capt. Wm. Aiken Kelly the name of Capt. 
Courtenay was added to the committee by a unanimous vote. 

In seconding the resolution Capt. Charles Inglesby said : 

Mr. President : In the summer of 1861 I received my 
commission as Lieutenant of Artillery in the regular army 
of South Carolina. From that time until his death John 
C. Mitchel and I were officers in the same command, 
which, upon the formation of the Southern Confederacy, 
was mustered into the Confederate army and its officers 
commissioned by the Confederate Government. Under 
our organization, we were regimental and not company 
officers. In the fall of 1863, regimental promotions as- 
signed me to Capt. Mitchel's company as his senior first 
lieutenant, and it was then that the pleasant relations 
existing between us ripened into a warm and intimate per- 
sonal friendship. So far as I know, every officer in the 
regiment esteemed and respected him : most certainly I did. 
But it was not until I became his senior lieutenant, occupy- 
ing the same tent with him at Fort Johnson, under the 
constant fire of the enemy's batteries on Morris Island, that 
I was able to take in the whole measure of the man. It is 
my deliberate judgment that, for his years, he was one of the 
most remarkable men that I have ever known. 

As an officer and soldier he possessed the highest military 
qualifications, while no braver or more gallant officer ever 
flashed a sword. At the same time, his heroic and daring 
spirit never made him forget the caution and prudence 
which an intelligent commander should observe with refer- 
ence to the safety of those under him. 

As a man, his was the highest standard of honor and 
courtesy, and as a scholar it has ever been a profound mys- 
tery to me, how so young a man could have acquired so 
much knowledge. An accomplished mathematician, his 
amusement was to work out the most difficult problems in 
calculus. A wonderful historian ; he was thoroughly versed 
in English and especially in Irish Ilistor}^ He was a fair 
classical scholar, and at the same time could make himself 
understood in three or four modern languages. 

With the strictest views of right and wrong, he reverenced 
and respected all that was worthy of reverence and respect ; 
no one ever heard him scoff at religion, and he regarded 
woman with the chivalrous deference of a knight of the olden 



14 

time. He espoused the Soutliern Cause, because lie felt 
that ill doing so, he was not only battling for the right, but 
was defending the weak against the arrogance of power ! 
Small in stature and of delicate physique, he was in heart, 
soul and intellect a giant! 

He was detached from his company Januaiy 4, 1804, and 
placed in command of Fort Sumter — from this until his 
death he was never again in immediate command of the 
company, although it was our pleasure to serve several 
tours of duty under him at that post We were at Battery 
Marion on Sullivan's Island when the news of his death 
reached us on 20th July. 18(34, and men as well as officers, 
felt that we had not only lost a captain and leader in whom 
we absolutely relied, but we had also lost a comrade whom 
w^e all dearly loved. His death placed the third bar on my 
collar, but feeling that I had lost " a friend who was nearer 
than a brother," the happiness of promotion was lost in grief 
for the death of my friend ! 

As I have said. I was at ray ])ost on Sullivan's Isbuid 
when he received his death wound and died in Fort Sumter. 
It was, therefore, not permitted me to be with him in his 
last hours, but those who were, bear witness that he died 
the gallant hero that he lived. Some time afterwards, I ac- 
cidentally heard two soldiers who had been in the fort at 
the time, speaking of him. They were utter strangers to me 
and were not talking for effect. The one said to his com- 
rade : "Do you know why it was that Capt. Mitchel was 
killed"? Upon being asked, why, he replied: "Because 
he did not know that Yankee shells could hurt anybody. 
No matter how the shot and shells were flying, he would 
walk about and not seem to know that there was any dan- 
ger in them." 

It was the pride of the South, that her armies were com- 
posed of her own people and not of the hirelings from all 
parts of the world, as were the armies of the North. Com- 
paratively few foreigners fought beneath the Southern Cross. 
Those who did, were sons of freedom who came to fight for 
freedom's cause ! He was one of those. And no life-blood 
she'd in our war came from a truer, purer, nobler heart than 
that which came from the heart of John C. Mitchel. 

I second the resolutions. 

Col. Edward McCrady, Jr., spoke as follo"\vs : 

Mr. Chairman : I shall gladly act upon the committee 
suggested by Capt. Courtenay. The names of Lafayette, 



15 

DeKalb and Steuben — men from other lands who came to 
America to tight for her independence — are preserved 
throughout the land. The struggle for freedom in which 
they took part was successful, and a grateful country has 
perpetuated their memories in the names of its cities, coun- 
ties, forts and societies. 

The struggle for constitutional liberty in which Capt. 
Mitchel fell, was unsuccessful, but none the less should we, in 
whose cause he gave up his life a voluntarily sacrifice, grate- 
fully remember his heroism and honor his name. True 'tis 
little we can do in his honor, but that little maybe priceless 
in touching the heart of the aged mother still grieving for 
her gallant son. It will, at least, gratify her to know that 
the people of the old city for whom he fought and fell, have 
not forgotten his deeds, nor the sacrifice in giving so precious 
a life in their cause; that we, the survivors of the army 
in which he fought, think of his mother, and sympathize 
alike in her j)ride and her grief, as we read the admirable 
story of Fort Sumter and the conspicuous part Capt. Mitchel 
bore in the glorious defense, and of his heroic death upon 
its crumbling walls. 

The resolutions were also seconded by Capt. James Arm- 
strong. 

The chaste and tender tribute, he said, to the courage 
and fidelity of the three sons of the Irish patriot and devoted 
friend of the South, John Mitchel, which has just been of- 
fered by Capt. Courtenay, and the delicate and deserved 
compliment he wishes to confer on their noble mother, not 
only receives our hearty approval, but will also elicit the 
admiration of the race to which tljese self-sacrificing heroes 
belonged. This mourning mother, who like Sparta of old, 
estimated her wealth by the virtue and valor of her child- 
ren, will value this precious souvenir more higlily than if it 
were gold, for it eloquently and truthfully tells of the in- 
comparable siege of Charleston in which one of her sons, 
Capt. John C. Mitchel, displayed the very chivalry of cour- 
age, exhibited sublime fortitude, and died a glorious death. 

This history will be doubly dear to her. for it has been 
written by one who was a courageous comrade and dear 
friend of her son, who fell while in command of Fort Sum- 
ter, on the 375th day of the siege. In his official announce- 
ment of the fact that John C. Mitchel was mortally wounded, 
Major Johnson, Engineer Officer of the Fort, added : * Alas, 



16 

what a loss!' The Charleston Courier of July 21, 1864, in 
noticing Capt. Mitchel's death, mentioned how strongly he 
was attached to Major Johnson said : 

" He spoke with special enthusiasm concerning the fideli- 
ty, courage, devotion and energy of Capt. Johnson of the 
engineers as largely entitled to credit for the defense of Fort 
Sumter, and also concerning the cool and deliberate determi- 
nation of the garrison to defend and replace, when needed, 
the flag which had so often been cut down but never lowered 
or kept down." 

Capt. Armstrong continued : I earnestly hope that the 
suggestion of Capt. Courtenay may be adopted, and I trust 
that his name will be added to the committee. 



Capt. Courtenay 's proposal was unanimously adopted, 
after which the meeting adjourned. 

ZIMMERMAN DAVIS, 

President. 
From the Minutes. 

J. W. Ward, 

Secretary. 



CONFEDERATE THOUGHTS. 



The proceedings of the Survivors' Association last eve- 
ning are marked by excellence in every respect. The eiilo- 
gium pronounced on Rev. John Johnson's history of the 
Defense of Charleston," does credit to all concerned and will 
be satisfying to the whole community ; no home in b'outh 
Carolina or in all our Southland, and as for that, no impar- 
tial home in the Union, should be without this grand chap- 
ter of American War history, while the military student 
everywhere will not fail to study this full and remarkable 
lesson of war. 

The remembrance of the Mitchel family will touch every 
heart, where this most worthy mention is read. 

Mr. John Mitchel, the exile, upon reaching the United 
States, lived in the South, and his vigorous and scholarly 
pen was wielded warmly for Southern rights. 

When the war came on, his eldest son, John C. Mitchel, 
came quickly to Charleston soon after the ordinance of se- 
cession was passed, and through Judge Magrath's influence, 
was early commissioned by Governor Pickens as second lieu- 
tenant of the First South Carolina regular Artillery. 

His soldierly qualities so attracted Gen. Beauregard's 
notice, that on the transfer of Gen. Elliott from Fort Sum- 
ter to Virginia this youthful captain of artillery was ap- 
pointed to the command of -Fort Sumter, where he lost his 
life in the discharge of his duty. His younger brother, 
William H. Mitchel was at school in France when the war 
begun, but ran the blockade, volunteered " for the war " in 
a Virginia corps, and fell, storming the heights of Gettys- 
Durg in Pickett's famous charge — barely 18 years of age. 
A third and only surviving son, Capt. James Mitchel, also 
entered the Confederate army in a Virginia regiment, was 
severel}^ wounded, but still survives and lives in New York, 
where his mother and only sister also reside. 

Nearly three decades have gone by since these events 
happened, and it is to the honor of Charleston that her Sur- 
vivors' Association recalls these costly sacrifices in a single 
family which, in perilous times, cast their lot so unselfishly 
with our Southland. The delicate and respectful attention 



18 

to the venerable Mrs. Mitchel will find an approving re- 
sponse not only here, but wherever it becomes known in 
South Carolina and the South. It is a pleasure to record so 
thoughtful an act. 

"To live in hearts 
We leave behind is not to die." 

[Charleston, S. C, World, SSth July.] 



Charleston, S. C, July 20th, 1890. 
Dear Mrs. Mitchel : 

The Survivors' Association of this cit}' has appointed us 
a special Committee to transmit to you herewith their Reso- 
lutions of July 25th, 1890, accompanied with an inscribed 
copy of the historical work, entitled : " Tlie JJcfcnse of 
CJiarle.^ton Harbor, c("c.," and to ask your acceptance of the 
same. 

It is a truthful narrative of the times of difficulty, trial 
and danger; and we are full}' sensible of the fact that your 
lot was cast with us, and that your tenderest ties of mother- 
liood were shared with the matrons of the soil, in gladW 
giving as they did, your noblest offspring to the cause of the 
Southern Confederacy. While many of these Spartan 
mothers were permitted to welcome home their heroic sons 
returning from the war and bringing back their untarnished 
shields with them, we gratefully and sorrowfully remember 
that your noble son, Captain John C. Mitchel, while at his 
post of duty as commander of the proudest citadel of our 
harbor, was stricken down by the foe and borne back from 
the forefront of battle upon his equally bright and un- 
tarnished shield. Placed in command of this fortress, the 
outpost of the harbor and the gateway to the city, he justi- 
fied all the faith and confidence which his adopted State and 
country had in him, and now his remains are resting in our 
own soldiers' ground. 

While we, his comrades of the war, preserve in our hearts 
the record of his gallant services before our once beleagured 
city, let us hope that you will admit into the shrine of your 
memory, as watchers with you at the tomb of that dear son, 



19 

those whose names are signed below. Invoking the Divine 
favor upon 3'ou and your family, we assure you of our abiding 
affection and remain. 

Your obedient servants, 

ZIMMERMAN DAVIS, President. 

JNO. JOHNSON. 

CHARLES INGLESBY. 

EDWARD McCRADY. Jr, 

JAMES ARMSTRONG. 

Wm. a. COURTENAY. 



New York, August 6th, 1890. 

Col. Zimmerman Davis 

and Gentlemen of the Committee, Charlesto'ii, S. O. 

Dear Sirs — I have just received your communication on 
behalf of the Survivors' Association, and hasten to assure 
you of my deep gratitude to you and your associates, and 
to the good people of Charleston, for this thoughtful and 
gracious act of kindness towards myself and those few mem- 
bers of my family still left to me. If anj'thing could com- 
pensate me for the heavy losses I have sustained, it would 
be the knowledge that there are many who have shared my 
grief with me, and that the worth and services of my son are 
recognized, and his memory borne in affectionate remem- 
brance by those with whom he was so closely associated, 
who knew him well m the days when all were so sorely tried. 

I need hardly say how highly I value Mr. Johnson's book 
and the proceedings of the Association. They will be pre- 
served among my most cherished mementoes of our great 
War, among which is a little pencil sketch by the author of 
this history, of a casemate in Fort Sumter, sent me soon 
after my son's death. 

Hoping gentlemen, to be permitted at some time or other 
to visit your noble city, and there to have the pleasure of 
meeting you, and of again personally telling you how deeply 
I have have been touched by your kindness, 

I am, with sincere regard very truly yours, 

JANE MITCHEL. 



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